BENGALURU, February 16, 2020
James Duckworth continued his impressive run of form by winning the 2020 Bengaluru Open. The No. 4 seed of the $162,480 ATP Challenger hard-court event defeated Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium.
Duckworth advanced to the title match of the Bengaluru Open by battling through the top half of the draw with wins over Khumoyun Sultanov from Uzbekistan, Frederico Ferreiro Silva of Portugal, No. 9 seeded Italian Thomas Fabbiano and Julian Ocleppo of Italy. The World No. 83 from Australia won 80 per cent of his first-service points in the championship match and broke his opponent’s serve five times to prevail after one hour and eight minutes.
James Duckworth completes the sweep in India!
Three months after lifting the 🏆 in Pune, @JamesDuck21 takes the title in Bengaluru. CHAMPION at the @BlrTennisOpen.
A fifth #ATPChallenger title in less than a year for the 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/ojawo7vyyh
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 16, 2020
“I really enjoyed the week here,” Duckworth said during the trophy ceremony. “It was great playing in front of this great crowd, especially tonight. It was lovely to get through today.”
Duckworth, who finished last season by lifting the trophy of the Pune Challenger in India, claimed his 11th ATP Challenger career title. The 28-year-old Sydney native took away from the capital city of the Indian state of Karnataka $21,600 in prize money as well as 125 ATP Ranking points.
On Saturday, Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan took the doubles title of the Bengaluru Open. The No. 4 seeds from India eased past Matthew Ebden from Australia and local favourite Leander Paes 6-0, 6-3. The encounter lasted 55 minutes.
